Brian May of Queen finishes work for his Ph.D. in Astrophysics
Published on 28 Jul 2007 at 6:44 pm.
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Filed under Astronomy, Music, Research, Space.
Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen, finished his requirements for his Ph.D. in Astrophysics. (See his remarks on his blog here) I remember years ago, when I first became interested in Queen’s music and learned that Brian May had studied Astrophysics. He put his studies on hold to form the famous rock band Queen with Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor. Now, just after his 60th birthday, Brian May has finished his requirements for his Ph.D.
Brian May’s thesis is on the “Radial Velocities of the Zodiacal Dust Coud”. The Zodiacal Dust Cloud is a disk-shaped cloud of dust that lies in the plane of our solar system and orbits the Sun with the other planets. It is referred to as Zodiacal since from the vantage point of the Earth, the cloud lies in the direction of the constellations of the Zodiac. There is no mystery in that, since those constellations were chosen because they are in the directions that define that plane in the first place.
The Zodiacal Dust Cloud is formed in part from material from asteroid collisions, cometary debris, and intruding interstellar dust. However, it is still not clear to what degree each of these processes contribute to the dust cloud. By measuring their radial velocities, presumably by measuring Dopper shifts in the infrared thermal emissions of different regions of the disk-shaped cloud, one may be able to tease out regions that may have been generated by distinct processes. We will have to wait for Brian May’s thesis and research papers to see what he has found!
I spent many hours of my Ph.D. studies listening to Queen LPs and CDs. So I have to say that I am happy that Brian put his studies aside for his music. Moreover, my friend Don says that the most precious object in the world is Red Special, Brian May’s guitar. This is because Brian and his father made it from scratch with wood from an old fireplace mantle and various spare parts. While many have attempted to imitate its sound, Red Special remains unmistakeable.
Congratulations to Brian for finishing his studies!
And for reminding us that one is never too legendary to learn even more!
Newspaper clipping here.
Brian May’s images of the Galileo Telescope in La Palma here.
Cheers,
Kevin Knuth
Albany NY
